Summary
- The second season of The Last of Us faces musical timeline dilemmas with songs like “Future Days” and Crooked Still’s album “Shaken by a Low Sound.”
- Joel’s poignant moment with Ellie in “Future Days” sets the tone for their relationship and the tragedies to come.
- The showrunners may need to choose different songs for the television series to fit the timing of the 2003 outbreak, but should definitely consider using the songs from the game.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II.
There was much discussion about whether The Last of Us Season 2 may use Pearl Jam’s “Future Days” as its soundtrack, but that’s not the only musical dilemma the series faces. The Last of Us is entering its second season on HBO, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin will tackle the gigantic non-linear narrative of The Last of Us Part IIBased on the trailers and set leaks, it seems like Season 2 will cover Ellie’s half of the story before moving on to Abby’s half in Season 3.
The game famously begins with Joel singing a song for Ellie as promised. He plays “Future Days” by Pearl Jam, which perfectly sums up their relationship and foreshadows the tragedies that will befall them, before he gifts Ellie the guitar so he can teach her how to play. Since the TV show moved the outbreak to 2003 and the song came out in 2013, there has been much debate about whether the series can use “Future Days.” But that’s not the only musical timeline dilemma the showrunners are facing.
HBO’s new Outbreak Day means the best songs from The Last Of Us Part II won’t be heard in the TV series
Crooked Stills album Shaken by a Low Sound was released in 2006
“Future Days” is not the only song by The Last of Us Part IIwhich came out after the breakout day of the television show. The album “Crooked Still” Shaken by a quiet noise is the key to the Jackson dance scene and the Santa Barbara epilogue, and this album was released in 2006so there might be a similar problem. “Ain’t No Grave” plays when Ellie, Dina and JJ are dancing in the kitchen, Ellie plays “Ecstasy” when she can’t sleep, and most notably, “Little Sadie” plays over the flashback to the Jackson Barn Dance.
When Ellie returns to Santa Barbara after her ordeal, she finds the farmhouse empty except for all of her belongings that Dina left behind. Shaken by a quiet noise sits on Ellie’s guitar. This album is equally important for The Last of Us Part II‘s musical storytelling as “Future Days”, and it wouldn’t feel right if it wasn’t included in the TV show. But since it came out in 2006, if the showrunners are on a strict schedule, they’ll have to release another album for The Last of Us Season 2.
Why Season 2 of The Last Of Us should still use the songs from the game
Surely the audience can suspend their disbelief in a zombie show
Instead of swapping out the songs to fit the timeline of the TV series, the showrunners should just use the songs from the game. The music selection in the game was so perfect; The Last of Us‘ Showrunners won’t find a song that captures Joel and Ellie’s relationship and the themes of the story as beautifully as “Future Days,” and by now it’s practically an unofficial theme song for the franchise. In a world full of mushroom zombies, audiences can certainly suspend their skepticism about when a song came out.
